Do your plans pass the chaos test?

Things were going great. I had my routine down and then…

I was slammed with disruptions that completely threw me off my game. My husband was out of town and then a few days after he returned, I went out of town and a week later it was school vacation and I was completely stressed out. Any one of those disruptions I can usually handle and get back to my regular routine quickly. All of them together plus a nasty stomach bug and I felt like that nice equilibrium I’d found had evaporated. Can you relate?

Looking back, this pattern is actually more common than we’d like to believe. Change is inevitable and if our only plan to stay on track with our goal is to have everything go perfectly, we’re in trouble. It’s important to keep track of what we are working towards and WHY it’s important, preferably somewhere easily visible so that in the midst of chaos we can come back to our center. What we need is a clear and simple statement that reminds us of what we are striving for and how we can best attain it.

Execute: The Final Step

For the past few weeks, we’ve been on a journey to use the BLAZE your PATH process to tackle burnout syndrome. The last piece of the BLAZE process is Execute, and the most important part is creating your own personal mission statement. Imagine having a simple sentence that can fit on an index card or a sticky note that reminds you of your purpose, passion, and WHY you’re doing the hard work so that you see it every morning when you’re struggling to get moving, or when you’re staring at a blank screen on your computer waiting for inspiration to hit. Reminders of what the goal is and why it’s important can get us back on track much faster than constantly having to reinvent the wheel.

Let’s do this.

Once you’ve identified your Beliefs and Loves you have most of the key pieces of your mission statement. You’ve done some experimentation with your Actions to see what helps you to gain focus and energy. Now you’re going to tap into your intuition using your Zen practices to lean into putting it all together.  The goal of this step is to have a clear framework for your decision-making process that captures the work you’ve done already to define your personal mission statement.

A good mission statement is “both inspirational and concrete, both meaningful and measurable… (it) is one decision that settles one thousand later decisions.”

Greg McKeown- Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

Your mission statement should include

• Your desired impact

• How to honor your values

• How you will use your gifts

Examples:

Make it visible:

Put your mission statement on index cards or sticky notes and put them in places where you are guaranteed to see them at least 4-5 times each day. Make them as simple or as pretty as you like – whatever will help to catch your eye. Edit and update as needed!

Whenever you feel stuck on a decision or are spinning your wheels, look at your statement and ask:

“How does this (opportunity/project/plan) help me to achieve my mission?”

Maybe it’s not directly in alignment but will open up a pathway that will help you later on. Maybe it requires re-framing or re-prioritizing some of the tasks that will be involved. Pay attention to your intuition and meditate on the decision- play out the potential outcomes of a “yes” or “no” to see where they might lead you. Then make your decision with confidence.

Having that clear mission helped me to regain my equilibrium. If I can do it, so can you.